Daniel Brühl, best known to comic fans as Baron Zemo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been cast in as the title lead in Kaiser Karl. The series tells the story of Karl Lagerfeld, an iconic German fashion designer, artist, and photographer who served as the creative director of Chanel, a position held from 1983 until his death in 2019. The series will chart his rise in the early days of his career, taking place primarily in Paris in the 1970s, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who first reported the casting news.
Brühl, who has also appeared in projects like The Alienist and The King’s Man, is also part of the cast for Best Picture nominee All Quiet on the Western Front. The star’s Marvel appearances include Captain America: Civil War and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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Brühl now joins a cast includes Theodore Pellerin, Arnaud Valois, Alex Lutz and Agnes Jaoui. Jérôme Salle (Totems) and Audrey Estrougo (upcoming Disney+ series Tout va bien) will direct, with Salle serving in a showrunner-like role on the six-episode series, which is a co-production between Disney+ and French studios Gaumont and Jour Premier.
Pisani-Ferry will serve as head writer for the series, having co-written the scripts with Dominique Baumard (Ganglands, The Bureau), Jennifer Have, and Nathalie Hertzberg (Malaterra, Farewell, De Gaulle, Farewell).
Here is the (admittedly fairly bare-bones) synopsis (via Screen Daily): Set in Paris during the 1970s, it will follow Lagerfeld as he competes with fellow designers Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and rises up the ranks of high fashion.
The series was created and adapted for television by Isaure Pisani-Ferry (Ganglands, Vampires, Kaboul Kitchen), Jennifer Have (Unfaithful, The Red Band Society) and Raphaëlle Bacqué, author of the best-selling biography of the same name.
Kaiser Karl is in production now, with filming slated for Italy, France, and Monaco. There is no set release date at this point.
